Cutter-bar.



E A. BARTGES.

CUTTER BAR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 8, I913.

Patented July 6, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

E. A. BARTGES.

CUTTER BAR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.8, 1913- Patented July 6, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WWI mes coL'ummA FLANOGRAPH 60., WASHINGTON, 1). c4

ERVIN A. BARTGES, OF COB'URN, PENNSYLVANIA.

CUTTER-BAR.

Application filed September 8, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERVIN A. BARTGES, a citizen of the United States,residing at C0- burn, in the county of Center and State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cutter-Bars; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates tonew and useful improvements in cutter bars formowing machines and the like, and has for its object the provision of arotary cutter operatively connected with some revolving part of themowing machine, etc.

An object of importance is to provide a device of the above mentionedcharacter, which consists of a chain carrying a plurality of cuttingknives adapted to co-act in their cutting operation with a plurality offixed knives carried by'the cutter bar, thus efficiently providing thedesired cutting action in a more reliable and expeditious manner thanhas heretofore been the practice.

A further object is to provide means for housing the rotary cutter, thatis so arranged and constructed to protect the rotary cutter in the bestpossible manner.

A further object of importance is to pro vide novel means for taking upthe slack on the chain carrying the cutting knives, that is operativelyconnected with one of the sprocket wheels for operating the chain.

A still further object is to provide a device such as described, whichis constructed of few parts, simple, reliable and efficient in itsoperation, and cheap to manufacture.

The above and additional objects are accomplished by such means as areillustrated in the accompanying drawings described in the followingspecification and then more particularly pointed out in the claim whichis appended hereto and forms part of this application.

With reference to the drawings, wherein, I have illustrated thepreferred embodiment of my invention as it is reduced to practice, andthroughout the several views of which, similar reference numeralsdesignate corresponding parts: Figure l'is a top plan view of my entiredevice illustrating aportion of the casing therefor in sections, Fig. 2is a front elevation illustrating a part of the Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented July 6, 1915..

Serial No. 788,658.

mechanism for operating the rotary cutter, Fig. 3 is a top plan viewillustrating the mechanism for rotating the cutter, Fig. 1- 1s a crosssectional view taken on line 1- 1 of Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a longitudinalsection particularly illustrating the means for governing the tension ofthe chain forming a part of the rotary cutter, and Fig. 6 is adetailview illustrating the manner of securing the cutting knives to the linksof the chain.

Referring to the drawings the numeral 1 designates a longitudinal plateforming the bottom wall of the casing for the rotary cutter and a partof the cutter bar. The rear wall 2 connects the rectangular plate 1 witha similarly constructed plate 3, that forms the upper wall of thecasing. This casing is suitably secured to the mowing machine andcarries at its terminals a pair of outwardly extending guide members 4:and 5, that are adapted to engage the grass, etc., to be cut and forceit into engagement with the cutter, which will be hereinafter more fullydescribed. These members 1 and 5 are bolted or otherwise suitablysecured to the under side of the casing and are each provided withconcave cutting edges 6. Mounted within the casing and toward theforward edge thereof is a rectangular plate 7 that is secured in theposition above named by means of bolts 8, that are inserted through theplates 1 and 3 of the casing and plate 7, and held against removal bymeans of the nuts 9.

A link chain designated 10 as an entirety is mounted upon sprocketwheels 11 and 12 that are journaled horizontally within the casingbetween the plates 1 and 3 thereof and adjacent each terminal thereof.The chain 10 is mounted for rotation upon the sprocket wheels 11 and 12and is spaced by means of the plate 7, thus assuring the properalinement of the gears carried by the chain with respect to the fixedgears carried by the plate 1, both of which will be hereinafter morefully described.

A plurality of cutting knives 13, preferably V shaped, are bolted, orotherwise suitably secured to the forward edge of the plate 1, in such amanner as to dispose the upper surface thereof in flush relation withthe upper surface of the plate 1. .These fixed knives 13, extenddownwardly from the plate 1 through an opening 14, that is formedbetween the downwardly extending flange 15 carried by the forwardterminal of the plate 3 and the plate 1. This opening 14 extends throughone of the end walls 16 of the casing for a distance sufiicient to allowthe rotary cutting knives to pass therethrough and into the casing. Thesprocket wheel 11 at the inner end of the casing is sufliciently spacedfrom the inner end wall 16 to permit the rotary cutting knives to passthrough the opening 14 in spaced relation to the inner end wall 16. Eachof the links 17 of the chain has bolted upon its under face a cuttingknife 18, similar in shape to the fixed cutting knives 13. It is thusapparent that the cutting knives 18 carried by each of the links 17 ofthe chain are held in the proper position relative to the fixed cuttingknives 13 by means of the plate 7, mounted upon the bottom plate 1 ofthe casing, and which serves to properly space the chain which bearsthereagainst and thus provides the desired action.

A longitudinal guide plate 18 is carried by the upper plate 3 andterminates in spaced relation to the bottom plate 1. The longitudinalguide 18 is so disposed that the cutting knives 18 will pass between thelower terminal thereof and the bottom plate 1, thus preventing upwardmovement of the cutting knives at the point of their engagement with theguide. The longitudinal guide 18 is curved at its ends outwardly towardthe front edge of the device so as to conform to the curve of the chain.The ends of the guide engage the inner face of the flange 15 and saidguide is disposed with its lower edge in the same plane as the loweredge of the flange 15. v

The sprocket wheel 12 is journ'aled in a bearing 19 that is slidablymounted within a rectangular opening 20, formed in the adj acentterminal of the plate 7. This bearing 19 is supported by a screw 21,that is threaded through an upstanding ear 22, formed on the bottomplate 1 and extending between the sides of the opening 20. One terminalof the screw 21 is threaded in the bearing 19 and the screw isadjustable by means of a nut 23 mounted thereupon. The bearing 19 andmeans for adjusting the same provide for the governing of the tension ofthe chain carrying the cutting'knives 18.

As a means for rotating the chain 10 there has been provided a beveledgear 24, mounted upon the outer side of the top plate 3 upon the bearingupon which the sprocket wheel 11 is mounted. This beveled gear 24 mesheswith a vertically disposed beveled gear 25, that is journal'ed upon ashaft 26. This shaft 26 is mounted transversely upon a U shapedsupporting bracket 27, that is secured as at 28 to the top plate 3. Abeveled gear 29 is journaled upon a shaft 30 within the supportingbracket 27 and meshes with the beveled gear 25. A beveled gear 31 iskeyed upon the shaft 30 and meshes with a beveled gear 32, that issimilarly keyed upon a shaft 33. This shaft 33 is operatively connectedwith a rotating shaft 34, carried by the mowing machine, by means of thegears 35 and 36. It is thus apparent that a rotary motion is transmittedto the chain 10 through the medium of the gears, hereinbefore described,and that the cutting operation is therefore provided. Suitable means,not shown, may be employed for disconnecting certain of the gears andfor operating the cutter, so that the cutter may be operated, or not, asdesired.

It will thus be seen that a rotary cutter is provided that willefiiciently perform all the functions hereinbefore cited.

In reduction to practice I have found that the form of my invention,illustrated in the drawings and referred to in the above description, asthe preferred embodiment, is the most efficient and practical; yetrealizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my devicewill necessarily vary, I desire to emphasize the fact that various minorchanges in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of partsmay be resorted to, when required, without sacrificing any of theadvantages of my invention, as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

A cutter bar comprising a casing having a longitudinal opening in onewall thereof, a depending guide plate carried by the top wall of thecasing and disposed within the casing with its lower edge in the sameplane as the upper edge of the opening in the front wall, said guideplate extending for the better part of its length in spaced longitudinalrelation to the front wall of the casing and having its ends curvedoutwardly and inwardly and disposed in engagement with the front wall ofthe casing and having its ends curved outwardly and inwardly anddisposed in engagement with the front wall of the casing, an endlessflexible knife supporting member rotatably mounted within the casing anddisposed between the guide and front wall of the casing and knife bladescarried by the flexible knife supporting member and arranged to extendthrough the opening in the front wall, said guide engaging the upperfaces of all of the blades that are disposed within the casing.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ERVIN A. BARTGES. lVitnesses:

JOHN L. HOLMES, CORA E. Ban'rens.

Copies of this patent may' be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

